Trace-end-supporting device.



No. 745,738. PATENTBD DEC. 1, 1903. J. P. PHILLIPS.

TRACE END SUPPORTING DEVICE.

APPLICATION FILED JAH. 16, 1903.

H0 MODEL.

UNITED STATES iatented December 1, 1903.

JACOB PARKER PHILLIPS, OF YANTLEY, ALABAMA.

TRACE-END-SUPPORTING DEVICE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 745,738, dated December 1, 1903.

Application filed January 18, 1903. $erial No. 139,348. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, J ACOB PARKER PHIL- LIPS, of Yantley, in the county of Choctaw and State of Alabama, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Trace-End- Supporting Devices, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to devices designed to be associated with the connecting members interposed between the breeching, hipstrap, and holdback-strap of ordinary horseharness for supporting the trace ends when the same are detached from the swingletree to obviate the necessity to doubling up and tying said ends, as is the common custom, to prevent the same from trailing on the ground.

One of the objects of the invention is to provide a retainer or support which will firmly hold the trace ends, which is adapted to be applied to the ordinary ring used for connecting the breechin g, hip-strap, and holdback-strap.

A further object of the invention is to provide a cheap retainer or support designed to be readily attached to a set of harness, which will firmly hold the trace end, but which will release the same if an undue strain is put thereupon.

Other objects of the invention will appear and the many advantages thereof be appreciated when the same is better understood.

The invention includes the combination and construction of parts, as will be hereinafter described, and particularly pointed out in the claim.

While the invention is susceptible of many modifications, I have illustrated in the accompanying drawings and shall hereinafter describe what is now conceived to be the two preferred embodiments of the same.

In the drawings, Figure 1 is a perspective view of the invention applied to the ordinary coupling-ring. Fig. 2 is a side View of the same. Fig. 3 is a front elevation thereof, and Fig. 4 is a perspective view of a modification.

It has been deemed necessary to disclose but a part of one side of a set of harness to fully illustrate the application of my invention, the parts shown including the connected ends of the breeching a, holdback-strap b, hip-strap c, and the ordinary connecting or coupling ring 02.

The support forming the subject of this application is comprised of a spring-clip designed to be attached to the ring d, having a receiving member for the trace end for holding the same in place under spring tension. The particular embodiment of the invention disclosed herein includes a clip comprising two legs or members of, one of which, e, may be termed a supporting-leg, as it engages directly With the trace to hold or support the same, while the other member, f, may be designated the attaching-leg, it being utilized more directly for engaging the ring 01 to hold the clip in position. The clip as an entirety is preferably constructed of a single length of resilient wire or wire having a limited amount of resiliency.

In the preferred form of the invention the end of the leg fis bent around the ring 61 between the breeching and the hip-strap to form an eyef, which encompasses said ring, and the major portion of said leg is then extended substantially diametrically across the ring d upon the inner side of the same to a point between the breeching and the holdback-strap, where it is given a lateral bend to provide an offset f which projects within the circumference of the ring, and from this offset the leg is bent back and around the ring, forming part of an eye g, which terminates in the lower end of the member which has been designated the supporting-leg, said lower end forming a part of said eye g. The member 6 is substantially straight for the major portion of its length and extends substantially diametrically across the ring d, upon the outer side of the same, approximately in parallelism with the legf, and ter-' minates in a laterally-disposed ring or eye 6, which provides a wide bearing part to guide the trace in inserting the'same in the holder. The trace 11 when detached from the swingletree is slipped down in between the leg 6 and the ring d, the resiliency of said leg being sufficient to firmly hold the trace in place.

As will be noted, the leg f engages the ring d at two substantially diametrically opposite points, and this form of connection serves to hold the clip in substantially a vertical position with the opening h, leading into the loop formed by the legs e f, presented upwardly to receive the trace.

The clip disclosed is adapted to be applied to connecting-rings d of varying sizes, thus adapting the holder to varying sizes of harmess.

The modified construction of clip disclosed in Fig.4., like the preferred form, is constructed of a single length of wire and includes an attaching and supporting member. The attaching member, however, instead of being bent around the ring to form the eye f is provided with a loop 1, designed to engage said ring,this loop havinga contracted springmouth m, leading thereinto. To place this form of clip upon the ring d, the latter is forced through the mouth m and into the loop 2', the part of the ring between the holdbackstrap and the breech'ing having been previonsly forced into the eye 01, formed by the connecting portions between the attaching and supporting members.

The construction and operation of my in- Vention will be readily understood upon reference to the foregoing description and accompanying drawings, and it will be appreciated that the parts and combinations recited may be varied within a wide range without departing from the spirit of the same.

Having thus described my invention, what is claimed as new, and desired to be secured by Letters Patent, is-

The combination with a connecting-ring, of a trace-supporting clip extending across the ring and comprising a leg having an attaching portion at each end thereof engaging the ring and a supporting member forming a continuation of one of saidends, said supporting member extending substantially in parallelism with said attaching member,substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto signed my name, in the presence of two attesting witnesses, at Yantley, in the county of Choctaw and State of Alabama, this the 6th day of January, 1903.

JACOB PARKER PHILLIPS.

Witnesses:

J. H. BRYAN, J. H. DAVISON. 

